The discount will apply at checkout. I’ll also be releasing new patterns that will be perfect for quick Christmas gifts or to make for yourself and your family–keep your eye out for them, they’ll be here in a few days! There will be an exciting, fun new Pokemon Inspired pattern later this week, and The Crunchy Carrot Market Bag is will be in the Pattern Store this weekend.Slippers, socks, a scarf, a washcloth/soap sack spa set, toys…lots of new designs coming in September, as well as a MYSTERY CROCHET-ALONG and KNIT-ALONG!

If you need more inspiration meantime, you can check out the Interweave Store!

Save 30% on hundreds of crafting resources. No coupon needed. Sale runs now through 9/5. Some exclusions apply. In addition, be sure to also check out the just released Atoll Cowl Kit. It is on sale, too, and the link is on the right, just below the “Interweave Store” tab.

Happy Labour Day…enjoy this weekend, and let me know if you need help with any of my designs. The quickest way to get help is usually to write a personal message on my Facebook Page: West Coast Fibre Arts

I had hoped to have this pattern published earlier in the day–I’m just a few minutes late for the first day of summer with the “Wrinkled Shell Cloth” ! Making a cloth is a useful way to learn new stitches and this cloth is an interesting combination from the 1880s.

The pattern will be available free, to celebrate the beginning of summer, for just one week. I hope you will take the time to visit my Facebook Page to find the code you’ll need…and show support and help me by hitting the ‘Like’ button on Facebook and adding the design to Favourites on Ravelry as well 😉 Thanks!

The versatile BONUS SQUARE pattern will be useful for a variety of purposes. It uses the Insertion Pattern from the Victorian era counterpane design, it is a simple lace on a background of Moss stitch (also called ‘seed stitch’ sometimes), with garter stitch as well.

NOTE: The pattern has been UPDATED to add a “MITT 2” pattern.

Make 1 to make a cotton wash cloth, or make 2 and sew them together to make a potholder–make sure the lace insertions are not back to back, to avoid burned fingers!

You could make an afghan or blanket by knitting up a lot of squares and piecing them together in patchwork–it would be a great stash buster!

Use them in your worsted weight yarn of choice to make a pair of fingerless mitts. So that the mitts look the same on the top, there is a “MITT 2” pattern.

Fold in half and use a bodkin (yarn needle) to sew them up with the Lace Insertion forming a cuff around the top. When sewing together: sew about 1 ½ inches, then leave about 1 ½ to 2 inches open for a thumb hole; sew the remainder. I will post more photos tomorrow 🙂 I am still knitting mitt 2.

Needles & Gauge

8 inch square or women’s average/8 inch fingerless mitts. If you need smaller mitts, use 4mm needles. For larger mitts, either use larger needles or knit extra rows before you cast off.

Size 4.5mm needles or whichever size you need to get a gauge of 16 stitches and 26 rows = 4 inches in garter stitch. The 32 stitch cast on edge should be 8 inches.

Yarn

To make a kitchen accessory, use worsted weight cotton. For a woman’s winter accessory, approximately 50g worsted weight yarn in your choice of acrylic, wool, cotton, etc.

I deeply regret that poor health prevented me from completing the pattern over the last week. If you were waiting for the last part of the pattern, I can only apologize for the delay and present it now. Later today I will give you a little bonus pattern FREE by way of showing my gratitude for your patience and to celebrate the FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.

I haven’t been able to knit for the last week, so my tote is not finished. When I am caught up in knitting I will post photos. If you need help, please write to me on here or (quicker response time) on Facebook.

To help you see how the insertions are sewn to make an afghan, here is the original illustration again. If you want a Tote Bag larger than just the 2 squares, you could add insertions to each square and then sew on a longer strip to form the bottom, sides, and shoulder strap–see my note at the bottom re: that long strip.

Fleurs de Lis for Paris KAL: Insertion Stripe

Abbreviations

k = knit

p = purl

yo = yarn over

k2tog = knit 2 together

Instructions

Cast on 16 stitches.

knit.

knit.

k2, p1, k1, p1, k1, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, p1, k1, p1, k3.

k3, p1, k1, p5, k1, p1, k1, p1, k2.

5 – 10. Repeat rows 3 and 4 three times more.

k2, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, p1, k1, p1, k1, yo, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k2.

k2, p4, k1, p1, k1, p5, k2.

13 – 18. Repeat rows 11 and 12 three times more.

Then:

For the short pieces that join your squares into a strip: repeat Rows 3 – 18 until you have knit 88 rows of the pattern, then knit 2 rows and cast off. Sew one piece to the cast on edge and one piece to the cast off edge.

For the long piece that goes between the strips: repeat Rows 3 – 18 until it is as long as required, then knit 2 rows and cast off. These long strips are sewn up between the joined squares.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR TOTE BAG made with 2 Counterpane squares.

For a tote bag shoulder strap/sides/bottom piece: CAST ON 16 STITCHES AND DO NOT KNIT ROWS 1 & 2. Just begin with Row 3 instead, continue through Row 18, then repeat Rows 3 – 18 until the insertion stripe is long enough to go around 3 sides of the square AND form a shoulder strap as long as you like. DO NOT knit two rows, just cast off. Sew the cast on/cast off edges together, being careful not to twist it; put this seam in the bottom/centre and sew to 3 sides of your 2 squares.

If you want to, knit one short piece and sew it to the top of one square, to form a flap for the bag.

Crochet a button loop in the centre of the top on one square (or if you want to use 2 buttons to close, make 2 where you want them!) then sew a button on the front of the bag.

After the weekend off, I hope knitters are ready to complete their Fleurs de Lis for Paris counterpane square. Whether you use it to make a counterpane, an afghan, a pillow, a tote, or even a washcloth—I hope you have found the design an interesting connection to the past.

The Fleurs de Lis “Beautiful Counterpane” is another historic design found in unrelated magazines. The first time I saw it was in the English The Ladies Companion & Monthly Magazine, 1862. However, I recently came across another publication of the counterpane pattern in the United States Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, 1862. Though the illustration isn’t included right beside the pattern in the English publication, it was possibly included at the beginning of the month—and these haven’t been scanned properly so are not visible. The only difference in the wording of two publications is in the materials—in the US version, the brand name of the cotton has been omitted.

The brand name of the cotton gives us a clue about the likely designer of the Beautiful Counterpane. A prominent English designer, Matilda M. Pullan, also know by her pen-name “Aiguillette,”was associated with the Derby firm of Messrs. Walter Evans and Co. and many of her patterns recommend using Boar’s Head cottons–while in England, in fact, she sold the cotton both at her shop and by mail. Mrs. Pullan was for years the “editress” of the Women’s pages of The Ladies Companion & Monthly Magazine, though she emigrated to the States at the end of the 1850s–and indeed died of ovarian cancer in 1861. She was never associated with Godey’s magazines, though her designs appeared in them often–apparently without permission. However, her patterns continued to be published in many magazines and it seems fairly likely that the designer of the “Beautiful Counterpane” was, indeed, Mrs. Pullan.

We will likely never know for certain how or why the pattern appeared in two unrelated magazines, but we can be thankful that it has survived for over 150 years so that we, too, can knit it!

On Wednesday I will write out the pattern for the Insertion Stripe that goes between the squares if you are making an afghan or to use for a tote handle, bottom, and sides if you are making a tote bag.

The final pdf of the entire pattern, with all the rows together, will be available next weekend in my Ravelry store.

Fleurs de Lis for Paris KAL: Week 2

The final rows of the Fleurs de Lis for Paris KAL do not need to be written out again because they simply repeat the previous rows in reverse beginning with Row 49:

For those interested in knitting Victorian style counterpanes, there are quite a few patterns available to recreate them. The University of Pennsylvania has scanned online a pdf of Mrs. George (Anne Jane) Cupples A Knitting-Book of Counterpanes, first published in 1871. Those of us who are fans of the L. M. Montgomery ‘Anne of Green Gables‘ novels remember that character Rachel Lynde had knit 16 cotton counterpanes, a remarkable feat! If you don’t have the time or need to make a full size counterpane, you can always use the designs to make smaller items–an afghan, or baby blanket, a pillow top, or (as I’m doing) a tote bag. Some of the patterns, like the one this KAL explores, are squares; some are knit in strips or ‘stripes,’ some in hexagons, triangles, or diamonds. In the coming days I’ll rewrite a crocheted counterpane pattern, so that those who don’t knit can participate in an exploration of vintage counterpanes. One I’ve considered making for quite awhile is this design from Godey’s Magazine, 1862; I think it would make a lovely lace shawl or rectangular scarf.

I find knitting with 4mm needles and aran weight yarn (Red Heart Super Saver Solids, aran colour) a lot easier than 2mm needles and size 10 thread (Aunt Lydia’s Bamboo Crochet Thread)! I decided to use the Fleurs de Lis for Parris KAL pattern to make a tote bag. Since I’ll need 2 of the squares, I am making them both now so I don’t get stuck in “second sock syndrome”–I don’t want to finish 1 square then move on to another project, and wait weeks for the inspiration to knit the 2nd! All I have to do is knit 1 square with the yarn end from the centre of the skein, and the second square with the yarn end from the outside of the skein.

I knit today’s 10 rows in the thread first. I haven’t decided what to make with the square–but it is too hard on my old eyes to knit enough squares for a large project! I also find the thin needles aggravate the arthritis in my knuckles and finger joints.

I have finished my three sets of pattern rows for Day 2, so now I am going to browse through a Victorian era magazine that is filled with amazing illustrations and patterns. The magazine is in French, but with the aid of online translation and knitting/crochet term charts I have made several La Mode designs.